First time caver-name of easy longish cave needed

[tj]

Hello - I would like to go caving for the first time next week. I have read quite a lot about the theory(esp safety and conservation) and would get the recomended equipmpment.

I would be really grateful if anybody could supply the name of a longish cave(over 2km) anywhere in the uk with relatively undemanding(for an early middle age novice) walks and crawls and needing no specialist diving equipment, where I could just turn up, and are unlikely to get stuck(my biggest fear).

I realise the best way to cave is probably to do it in a club - but I do not have the time or flexibility to investigate this by next week.

Any help greatly appreciated - maybe in a meal or drink if I later on join the community.

 

[teabag]

How about this one in the Yorkshire Dales
http://www.whitescarcave.co.uk/Visiting-Us.html

 

[Clive G]

Or, if the Mendip Hills are more convenient:
http://www.cheddarcaves.co.uk/section.php/55/1/adventure_caving_for_beginners

 

[kay]

I'm curious as to why you specify it should be over 2km?

 

[Les W]

2km is actually a very long trip in a cave. If you have never caved then I doubt you will achieve this in your first visit.
I would suggest somewhere like Valley entrance in Kingsdale or perhaps Long Churn in Ribblesdale as a first trip

 

[cap n chris]

Your initial post sounds like you intend to go caving on your own, for your first trip.

 

[tj]

Many Thanks for the the suggestions. Thats very helpful.

I was intending to go on my own next week because I currently have a hectic schedule and can't predict when I could turn up. I was looking for a long cave because this would seem like a true experience, but what do I know.

Although I have no caving experience I am quite physically fit, and have done 'dangerous' sports before like abseiling and rock climbing.

As well as one with a visitors centre I was also interested in exploring an unmanned cave although I am aware of the safety and conservation issues
this might present.

 

[martinr]

A few points from the NCA caving code* spring to mind:

2. The party leader should be familiar with the cave and be aware of sensitive features.

4. If there are novices on a trip, make sure that they are close to an experienced caver, so that the experienced caver can help them when required e.g. in difficult sections.

6. Cave as a team. Help each other through the cave and ensure that party members stay together.

As a solo caver and complete beginner you mave have some difficulty with the above points


* yes I know its the BCA now but I couldnt find the BCA version

 

[Clive G]

A few points from the NCA caving code* spring to mind:

. . .

* yes I know its the BCA now but I couldnt find the BCA version

* Shows what an incomplete job has been made, so far, of merging NCA and BCRA truly - as I've already mentioned elsewhere.

The odds are if you know the name of the cave, where it is and what it's like inside then as long as you tell a reliable friend where you're going and when you plan to return, given you're properly prepared and equipped, solo caving can be a natural and enjoyable extension of conventional caving for experienced cavers. I suppose you could liken it to skiing powder off-piste.

The odds are if you don't know the name of the cave, or where it is, or what it's like inside, then how are you going to ask how to get out of the first serious difficulty which you encounter inside the cave . . . like getting lost, your light packing up (because you were supplied with a dud unit or the battery has run out using full beam), or you have free-climbed down an easy-looking pitch only to find yourself ending up on an exposed ledge overlooking a 30+ m drop, or after it has rained cats and dogs whilst you were having fun in the cave and now the long, low muddy crawl, which you had no trouble coming through on the way in, is completely full of water . . . etc., etc. - when there's no friend in earshot to help guide you, or Wi-Fi available for trawling the internet to find the answer, or mobile phone connection within range to call the emergency services for assistance? This could all go to making a novice very piste off.

 

[damian]

A few points from the NCA caving code* spring to mind:

. . .

* yes I know its the BCA now but I couldnt find the BCA version

* Shows what an incomplete job has been made, so far, of merging NCA and BCRA truly - as I've already mentioned elsewhere.

The Minimal Impact Caving Code is currently under review and, therefore, not published - see here for details.

 

[Peter Burgess]

How sad that what appears to be genuine enquiry is met by two curt suggestions to go to a show cave (I consider Cheddar Caves adventure trips a show cave) and a reply which was basically an excuse to take a popshot at the NCA/BCRA merger etc etc. At least Les and others try to be helpful.

Here's my suggestion:

Don't be in such a rush - the caves will always be there, and to assume that a 2km trip is OK on the grounds that you have some 'rock' sport experience might backfire on you.

If you really feel able to do something alone for a first trip, at least make sure someone knows exactly where you are going, and what time to expect you back, and what to do if you don't get back when you said you would. Solo caving (in my view) is not to be taken lightly, and should (I suggest) be limited to some pretty easy stuff initially. In fact, I would not recommend it at all.

There are loads of people around who might be in the right place at the right time to meet you and give you a damn good trip somewhere. What region and when are you planning your first trip? Maybe someone here would like to meet up and help out. Just a thought.

 

[martinr]

What region and when are you planning your first trip? Maybe someone here would like to meet up and help out. Just a thought.

I would like to go caving for the first time next week. .......I realise the best way to cave is probably to do it in a club - but I do not have the time or flexibility to investigate this by next week.

 

[kay]

As well as one with a visitors centre I was also interested in exploring an unmanned cave although I am aware of the safety and conservation issues
this might present.

If you're in Yorkshire, try Tom Taylors at How Stean  -you pay to go in the gorge, then they'll hire you a torch (or you can take your own) and you can walk through a through cave  -albeit short, it is an actual cave, and apart from wooden steps at one end it hasn't been adapted for visitors. (That said, I haven't been there for 10 years, the new owners may have changed things)

Or try the bottom entrance  of Yordas - big cavern worth seeing, with large waterfall, some tall narrow passages around the waterfall area, then if you are really enthusiastic, some crawly bits where the stream disappears at the other end.

Remeber, even a twisted ankle is a major catastrophe in a cave, so heed the advice to tell a trusted other person were you are going and what time you expect to be out, with instructions to ring cave rescue if you haven't contacted them by the agreed time.

 

[Clive G]

How sad that what appears to be genuine enquiry is met by two curt suggestions to go to a show cave (I consider Cheddar Caves adventure trips a show cave)

. . .

Well, you clearly haven't been to Gough's Cave for a wild caving trip with a novice to caving like I have (an experienced diver who had been diving in the Bahamas, etc.). And a very useful introduction it was. We followed it up with a Swildon's Hole trip to Sump 2. If a long-distance trip underground appeals, then why not White Scar Cave which has a walk of around 1 mile (1.6 km) and includes the Battlefield: "The highlight of the tour is the 200,000 year old Battlefield Cavern. Over 330 feet long, with its roof soaring in places to 100 feet, this is one of the largest caverns in Britain. It contains literally thousands of delicate stalactites, which hang from the roof in great clusters." (Guidebook)

Neither curt nor inappropriate - concise and to the point, without wasting words - if you don't mind me saying!  8)

 

[AndyF]

IMHO it would be reckless and foolhardy to "go caving" on your own with zero experience and talk of attempting a 2km trip.

What would you do if you break a leg or have a lighting failure? (The answer is likely die  )

To think that a 2km trip is possible indicates complete naivity of what is involved or possible.

Seriously, contact a club or go on an organised "adventure caving" trip, you will have a great time in safety.

I think other members here suggesting wild caves for you is inadvisable as this sounds like an accident waitng to happen, and legally I'd hate to have been the "expert who suggested it"

 

[cap n chris]

Hi TJ. P'raps you won't already know this but nearly every book on caving will state pretty clearly that solo caving is a bit of a no-no (unless you're up to speed on hazards and have done a fair bit of caving and have strategies for self-rescue etc.) so you'll probably be reaping a bit of a shitstorm (or minor poo-flurry at the least) with your opening thread here. Never mind. Provided you don't kill yourself and are happy doing Billy No-Mates trips it should be quite exciting and you can always turn round the moment the nasty cave fairies lurk too close. However, it might be a plan to avoid being too much of a Billy otherwise you won't get to learn a fing-or-two from old hands/dinosaurs who might give you a pointer/heads up on stuff.

Look out for the trolls.

 

[tj]

Thank you for  the advice. I am already kicking myself for not initially thinking of informing a friend and setting a prearranged time to phone her after I have emerged.

I can't arrange to meet up with associates because I really can't  predict when I would be able to turn up.

I was  therefore looking for suggestions on a reasonably safe cave where subject to no lighting failiure(I'd plan on purchasing/hiring a spare light and batteries), it would be difficult to have a fall( I've worked out that even a twisted wrist can be lethal). But possibly that does not exist and the 2km idea certainly needs revisiting.

I also don't want to harm any rare formations inadverntly.

Regarding Billy no mates I would obviously not attempt in future attempt a more demanding/troll infested cave without being in a group.

Yordas sounds interesting.

 

[Elaine]

How about a mine like Box?

 

[tj]

I'd certainly consider a mine instead with a reasonably horizontal gradient for a lone trip.

Because of it's designed nature I'd imagine this would be, in principle, safer than a naturally formed cave.

 

[Clive G]

"Anyone interested in going caving is strongly advised to do so in the company of an experienced caver." Underground Britain: A Guide to the Wild Caves and Show Caves of England, Scotland and Wales by Bruce Bedford (Willow Books, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd, 1985)

Available second-hand here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Underground-Britain-Bruce-L-Bedford/dp/0002181010

It's how I began . . .

Especially, see: Cavers and caving pp 14-29
The book is an interesting read with lots of good pictures.